Red Rose Rising

by A J Manney

  For the first time in a long time, Zalia felt safe. She fell asleep in his arms.

  __________

  She awoke the next morning and looked over to where Valen had laid during the night. His spot was empty. She wasn’t sure when he had left during the night, but she had slept without any nightmares the rest of the night. She sat up and stretched and climbed out of bed.

  She needed to get a bath and get dressed for a full day of training. If she moved quickly, she would have time to help Mari get breakfast ready.

  Zalia headed to the kitchen a little while later. She was greeted by a smiling Mari and a big hug. Mari pulled back and looked at Zalia. “So...”

  Zalia looked at her innocently. “So what?”

  Mari gave her a knowing grin. “So, you and the Prince, huh?”

  Zalia blushed. “I guess,” she said.

  Mari was gracious and let the matter drop. They worked together in happy silence until Valen came in a few minutes later. Zalia had just picked up a heavy pot of potatoes and was carrying it to the stove. Without saying a word, Valen took it from her and set it on the stove. He turned back to her.

  “Thank you,” she said quietly. He nodded and stepped closer, gently pushing back a few of the curls that had escaped her braid.. Then he left her and walked over to get coffee. Zalia could feel that her face was red. She just kept working, trying to ignore Valen. Finally, he left, and she was able to take a deep breath. When she looked at Mari, Mari was grinning at her from ear to ear.

  Zalia turned back around to focus on the jelly she was making. A few minutes later, Raven came into the kitchen and joined them. Mari kept a lively conversation going with the two of them. They worked hard, and soon everybody started joining them for breakfast. Zalia found herself getting nervous. What if somebody says something? How do I act normal? Will he expect me to sit by him?

  By the time Valen came back into the kitchen for the second time, Zalia was a ball of nerves. She had just decided she would skip breakfast and was heading towards the door when Valen came in. She froze. He looked at her and stepped close to her. Talking in a low tone so nobody but Zalia could hear him, he asked, “You weren’t leaving just now were you?”

  Zalia lifted her chin into the air. “Maybe,” she said.

  He smiled and pulled her chin back down. “Don’t point your chin up defiantly at me like that or you might not like the consequences,” he said.

  She opened her mouth to argue with him, but he leaned even closer.

  “I didn’t say I wouldn’t like the consequences,” he whispered suggestively next to her ear. Then he turned and walked away.

  Zalia felt her face turn red. She knew she was lit up like a Christmas tree. That man knew how to get to her! She looked up and saw him sitting at the table smirking at her. She wanted to throw something at him. She swallowed her frustration and walked over to the table, only to realize the only available seat was next to Valen. She groaned quietly and went to sit next to him. As she got closer, he pulled her seat out for her. She noticed he pulled it slightly closer to him as he pulled it out.

  She sat down stiffly. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

  He leaned towards her and spoke softly. “You’re welcome and thank you for making breakfast. It looks amazing, as always.”

  His compliment sent pleasure rushing through her. She smiled. She looked up just then and saw Beckam watching the two of them with a big grin. She had the sudden urge to wipe the grin off his face. She was still mad at him from yesterday. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed out loud. She knew it was childish, but she couldn’t help it.

  Valen leaned really close. “I wouldn’t stick that tongue out at any other men if I were you,” he growled low in her ear.

  Zalia choked on her food. Beckam just laughed louder.

  Chapter 18

  Zalia finally made it through breakfast. She stood up and pushed her chair back. She was ready to get away from Valen. “Raven,” she called out. Raven looked up at her. “Are you ready to get training for the day?” Zalia asked her. Raven just grinned at her, knowingly.

  “Sure,” Raven said as she stood up and picked up her plate. They both put their plates away and headed towards the training hall. Zalia stopped in the hallway. “Shoot. I forgot my dagger in my room. Do you want to go on ahead without me? I won’t be far behind you.”

  Raven nodded. “Sure. I’ll see you in there”

  Zalia turned and walked back to her room. Once she was inside, she grabbed her sheath and wrapped it around her leg. Then she put her dagger in. She walked to the bathroom to touch up her hair before heading to the training hall. She stepped inside and moved over toward the washbasin. She heard the door close softly behind her. She whirled around, but it was too late. Rough hands grabbed her. Zalia screamed, but it was muffled against the hand over her mouth. Her captor put a knife to her throat, and Zalia froze. “You’re coming with me,” she heard a menacing voice say in her ear. He started dragging her to the door.

  Zalia panicked for a moment, before calling on her training. She allowed him to drag her to the door because she needed to be in the hallway to be able to attract somebody’s attention. She thought it through carefully and quickly. She would get one chance at this. Her room was not too far from the entryway. If he got her outside, she was done for.

  Once they got to the hall, Zalia feigned a trip and let her weight fall on him. For just an instant, he had to adjust to her added weight and moved the knife a fraction away from her throat.

  Zalia didn’t think. She just acted. “Valen!” she screamed as loud as she could while simultaneously ripping her dagger from her sheath. She pulled it up and plunged it into the arm holding the knife. Cursing, the man dropped the knife. Zalia made a move to stab him with her dagger, but he surprised her with a high kick. His kick knocked the dagger out of her hand and out of her reach. A second later, he punched her abrasively in her stomach. Zalia bent in half, trying to catch her breath. He wasn’t done. With the arm that was still gushing blood, he pummeled her again. This time, Zalia fell to her knees. He kicked her in the ribs once before Zalia managed to roll away. She flung herself at her dagger and grabbed it. As he came at her from behind, she turned and stabbed him, catching him in his side.

  Screaming in rage, he tackled her to the ground. He managed to grab his own knife and plunged it into her shoulder. She couldn’t move. She watched as his hand raised again, knowing this was going to be a killing blow, but he never made the move.

  Zalia heard a roar of rage, and the man was suddenly ripped away from her and thrown into the wall. An enraged Valen stabbed him before he even had a chance to defend himself. In a rage, Valen stabbed him again and again. Beckam came racing down the hall, followed by two of the guards. They took in the scene quickly. Beckam fell to his knees beside Zalia. “Zalia,” he breathed. He made a move to touch her and heard a roar behind them. Beckam froze.

  Zalia looked up in fear and saw Valen in full battle mode. He was standing in a ready position to fight. His sword was out and his eyes were so black, Zalia couldn’t see the pupils anymore. She had never seen him so angry. It scared her to death.

  Beckam made a show of putting his palms up in the universal sign of surrender. He began to back away slowly. Zalia made a small sound of protest. Without ever looking away from Valen, Beckam began talking to Valen in low, quiet terms.

  “Look, I’m moving away. I’m not here to hurt her or take her from you. See, I’m moving far away.” Zalia watched in confusion as the other two guards did the same.

  Still without ever taking his eyes off Valen, Beckam said in a low, urgent tone. “Zalia, listen very carefully to me. You need to talk Valen down. He's in a full fury. He will kill anybody that gets near him or you right now.”

  Zalia looked at Valen. He hadn’t moved a muscle. Zalia shook her head at Beckam. “I can’t. If he’ll kill you, he’ll kill me.”

  Beckam said quietly. “No, he won’t. You are the only one safe rig
ht now.”

  Zalia tried to sit up but couldn’t. Gritting her teeth, she called out in a low soothing voice, “Valen, please stop. I’m hurt. I need you to put down your sword and help me.” When he didn’t move, Zalia put authority into her voice. “Valen, I need you now!”

  His head moved slightly in her direction, and Zalia could see he was trying to come out of it. He shook his head once. Then he shook his head again and started stalking towards her. He took in the blood all over her and gritted his teeth. She could tell he was going to go all crazy again. He was close enough, so she reached out and grabbed his hand. She pulled him down until he was sitting next to her. She reached up and grabbed his face. “Valen, I need you now. Please come back to me.” As soon as she touched his face, she could see the crazed look fade from his eyes.

  He looked down at her and oh so gently pulled her into his arms. He looked down at her with anger boiling in his eyes, but he spoke to her gently. “Can you heal yourself?” Zalia was starting to fade from the loss of blood. She reached up and touched her wound. She felt nothing. She looked up into his eyes and confirmed that it wasn’t doing anything.

  “It’s okay. We will just heal it the old-fashioned way.” Valen whipped his shirt off and pressed it against her wound. Then he turned into full prince mode and started barking out orders at the guards. “Gregory, get Collette to get washcloths and hot water. Conlyn, find Mari and tell her to prepare a tea with healer’s brew.” He looked down at Zalia.

  Zalia started to move around, trying to get away from the burning pain in her shoulder. “Try not to move, sweetheart. That will make it worse. Just focus on breathing for me. Okay? Deep breath in, deep breath out.” Valen gently picked her up and carried her to her room, gently placing her on the bed. “Here you go. Everything is going to be okay.”

  He turned away for a moment, and in a panic, Zalia reached out to him. He turned back to her. “Shh. It’s okay. I’m not leaving.” He used his thumb to carefully brush the tears from her cheeks.

  Zalia was in so much pain. She had never felt anything like this before. She wondered how in the world Valen had survived all the wounds he had sustained. Zalia started fading as people began coming in and working around her. She couldn’t pay attention to details. She only knew that Valen had her hand, and she was hanging on to it for dear life.

  Mari brought a cup of tea up to Zalia’s lips. Valen held her head up, so Mari could gently help her drink the tea. Zalia took a small sip and gagged on it. It tasted awful. She tried to pull her head away, but Valen wouldn’t let her.

  “I know it tastes horrible, but it will help to take the pain away and heal your wound. Please drink it,” Valen spoke to her softly.

  Zalia didn’t think. She just drank until it was gone. “That’s my girl,” she thought she heard Valen say. She must have been getting groggy because that didn’t sound like him at all. He was usually angry.

  She felt someone start touching the wound, putting some kind of ointment on it. She felt like she was going to be sick. She felt pressure on the wound, and that was enough to send her over the edge into the waiting blackness.

  When Zalia awoke, she opened her eyes slowly, taking in the room. She saw Valen sitting in the chair next to her bed. It was DeJa'Vu. She tried to turn to look at him and say something, but the movement caused her shoulder to move and pain erupted. Zalia couldn’t help herself. She cried out in pain. Valen was instantly there. “Shh. It’s okay. Here.” He lifted her head gently and helped her drink the awful healer’s brew. She dutifully gagged it down. “That’s good,” he said as he pulled the cup away and set it down on the small table next to her bed.

  Zalia wanted to thank him, but she felt the medicine begin to work quickly. She just stared up at him. “Just rest now,” he said gently. Soon Zalia couldn’t keep her eyes open. She closed her eyes and fell into oblivion once again.

  The next time she opened her eyes, she instantly looked for Valen. He came towards her as soon as he saw she was awake. He helped her drink more of the healing drink. She went back to sleep moments later. Each time she woke up, it was the same thing. It didn’t matter what time of day it or night it was, Valen was always there to take care of her. If Zalia was more with it, she would probably think about it more. But she couldn’t. She just kept sleeping.

  Finally, Zalia woke up and felt like she was starting to recover. She looked around for Valen but didn’t see him. She swallowed her disappointment.

  Shutting down her emotional thoughts that would only get her into trouble, Zalia looked around her room. She wondered how long she had been sleeping and healing. The sleeping aide in the tea had knocked her out every time she drank it. She knew she needed it to help her body heal. With the rest and the healing power found in the herbs of the tea, she couldn’t believe how much better she was feeling already. “Well, I guess I should try getting up,” she mumbled to herself. She was in desperate need of a bath.

  Very slowly, she worked herself into a sitting position. It was painful, but she was able to do it. The effort cost her, though. Already, she had sweat breaking out on her forehead; but she was determined to get a bath. Laboriously she moved and soon she had her legs over the side of the bed. The last thing now was standing up. She stood up slowly and took a few steps towards the bathroom. Instantly, she knew it was the wrong decision. She was so dizzy and weak. Her legs were shaking, her arm was aching, and she felt like she was going to fall over.

  Just then, her door opened and Valen walked in. He took one look at her and stepped forward and gently grabbed hold of both of her arms. “Why are you out of bed?” he asked in a low voice.

  Zalia couldn't seem to form a coherent thought both because of her weakened state and his nearness. He started to move her gently backwards to the bed. She suddenly remembered. “I need a bath,” she blurted out, then blushed furiously.

  Valen stopped moving her backwards and looked down at her. “Do you think you’re strong enough for a bath?” he asked.

  Zalia nodded. She had no idea if she was or not, but she needed a bath desperately. Seeing her nod, he turned her and began leading her to the bathroom. Apparently, Zalia wasn’t moving fast enough, because he moved behind her and swooped in and picked her up. The move surprised Zalia and she gasped. He looked quickly down at her. “Did I hurt your shoulder?”

  “No,” Zalia said quietly. He moved with her carefully into the bathroom. He set her down where she could lean against the wall. Then he walked over and started the bath for her. When he walked back over to her, she just looked up at him.

  “I’m going to grab Mari to help you, okay? I’ll be right back,” he said and headed for the door.

  Zalia got to work undressing. She didn’t want to undress in front of Mari. She tried to undress but found she simply couldn’t because of her arm. By the time Mari got to her, Zalia was all worked up. She was angry because she couldn’t get undressed with her arm, she was in pain, and she was tired again.

  Mari walked in, took one look at her, and said, “Oh my dear, let me help you.” She came over and helped Zalia get undressed and into the tub without making Zalia feel awkward or embarrassed. She helped Zalia wash her hair and her body. Then she helped her climb out, get dried off, and into fresh underclothes. She pulled a clean soft blue dress over Zalia’s head. Then she guided her to her bed and made her sit while she took a comb through her curls. When she was finally done, Zalia was exhausted, but she felt good. It was so good to be clean finally. She lay back on her bed and rested while Mari went to go get her some food.

  She must have dozed off because when she awoke, Valen was back in her room and Mari was nowhere in sight. When he saw she was awake, he came over to her bed and sat on it. “How are you feeling?” he asked in his low soothing voice.

  Zalia took stock of her pain. “Not as much pain as before,” she said simply.

  Valen nodded. “Are you hungry? Mari left some food for you.” He indicated the plate. Zalia nodded, not because she was hungry, but
because she knew she needed to eat to be able to heal completely. He helped her sit up and get settled, then handed the plate to her. She ate a few bites and then asked him a few questions.

  “How long has it been since...” she trailed off.

  Valen knew exactly what she was talking about. “Four days,” he said darkly.

  She didn’t want to talk about it, but she felt she needed to for closure. “Who was it?” she asked quietly. She didn’t think Valen was going to answer her. He was quiet for several minutes before he finally started speaking in a voice that sounded like rage under control.

  “He was from my father’s kingdom. He came into the training hall by himself. We found two other soldiers working with him outside the training hall. We think he meant to grab you and get you outside. He wasn’t expecting much of a fight from a princess. We got rid of him and his friends, so they couldn’t report back to my father. He will know something happened to them, but he will not be able to confirm your existence yet. I’m sure he will try again, but we will be ready.” He said these last few words so deadly and calm that Zalia knew he was really upset. She lay her hand on his arm but didn’t say anything. She ate a few more bites, then handed it back to him.

  “Thank you,” she said. “And thank you for telling me about the attack and for saving me that night,” she said, shuddering as she said it.

  He looked down at her, his eyes dark with anger. “That attack should never have happened. As soon as you are healed, we are bonding,” he said. Then he stood up to go back to his chair.

  Zalia was going to argue with him but knew right now was not the time. He was angry, and she was weak. That was not going to be a good combination. She knew he would never hurt her, but she needed him to be in a good frame of mind when they talked about bonding.